Apparatus for purging sugar, &amp;c.



No. 70I,687. Patented lune 3, |902.

G. DESAULLES.

APPARATUS FOR PUBGING SUGAR, &c.

(Application filed May 18. 1901.)

` (No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet l.

1H: Noam paens w4 womMwo'.. msmricmn. Y

No. 70|,687. Patented lune 3, |902. G. DESAULLES. APPARATUS FDR PRGING SUGAR, Snc.

(Application led lla-y 18. 1901.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Nudel.)

No. 70l,6v87. Patented lune 3, |902.

G. DESA-ULLES. -APPARATUS FOR PUBGING SUGAR, GLC.

` (Application led May 18. 1901.')` (No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

TH: Nnnrus Farms co, PHo'c-uwo, wAsHmGTomp. c.

UNITED STATES' PATinvf-r, OFFICE.

GEORGES DESAULLES, OF BOURBON, FROANOE.

APPARATUS Fo'RfPuRelNe SUGAR, sto.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Irett'eSPatent N 0. 701,687, dated June 3, 1902.

Application iiled May 18, IQOI..Y

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGES DEsAULLns,v

engineer, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Bourbon, Puy-de-Drne, France,`

the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part,

of this specification.

This invention has relation to the extraction or separation of liquids from solids-as, for instance, the mother-liquorfrom,crystalline substances-.the invention being more particularly designed ,for the extraction of molasses fromfraw sugar in the manufacture of such or syrupgfrom masse-cuite -in thev manufacturefof white or ktable sugar, though` I do not desire' to limit my said invention to the treatment of sugar, as it can be used with equally good results inthe extraction or separation of liquids from other crystalline or noncrystalline substances.

The object of his 1nven,tion,'broadly stated, i

lies, first, in exposing a layer of armaterial such as stated to atmospheric pressure on one side and to the actionofavacuum on the opposite side; second, inimparting to the layer a progressive movement and in progressively removing material'freed from moisture, and, third, in progressively re-forming the layer of fresh material in such a manner as not to relieve or materially relieve the vacuum on one side thereof.

That my invention may be fully understood. l I will describe the same in detail, refr-renceVV being had to the accompanying drawings, in which* Figure 1 is a top plan view of an apparatus embodying my invention. Fig.2 is a section thereof on line of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of arrow. Y Fig.3 is a sectional detail View of the feed-hopper and screw conveyer. Fig. 4 is anelevation of the parts shown inv Fig. .3 and showing also the receiver for the material removed by the conveyer and part of the vacuum-pau in cross- Serial No. 60,886. (No model.)

section, and Fig. 5 shows the preferred construction of foraminous support for the material treated interposed between the vacuumchamber in the pan and the atmosphere.

. In Figs.;l and 2, C indicates a hollow column provided with a suitable foot-flange securable to a suitable support,said column having at its lower end a branch pipe c, to which is secured a pipe P, having a branch pipe p, provided with a stopfcocks, and beyond said vbranch p the said pipe P is provided with a stop-cock s2. At its lupper end the column C has a port c', in'register withan elbow-joint I c2,- preferablycast with a` plate o8 of or secured to one end of a cross-beam B, and to said joint' c3 is secured a,pipe P', having a branchpipe p', provided with a stop-cock s3, andbeyond said stop-cock said pipe P is 'provided with a stop-cocks.

.On column C is mounted to revolve fluid- 4tight a vacuum-pan V, comprising the body .V andcover V?. The body V ofthe pan has ,a rim-liange o, to which is bolted a circular 'supportTf for the foraminous bottom B of a like channel n or trough T, hereinafter referred to as the i trough',. said support being Acomposed 'of concentricfrings t and t', con- :nected together at suitable intervals by webs t2,.` on which is laid 'the' aforementioned foraminous bottom B, which latter is preferably composed, oftwo perforated metal plates b b' anda Wire fabric b2, interposed between them, Fig. 5, the perforations in plate b being preferably of greater area than those in plate b and may be circular, or polygonal openings, preferably having their walls di- `verging downwardly. Although this construction of foraminous bottom is preferred, I do not desire to limit myself to its use, as other constructions may be resorted to, aocording to the material to be treated. This foraminous bottom B is held :in place by its edges being clamped between the flanges t t' of support T and between those of two rings r and r', that form the upper part or the trough proper.

The foraminous bottom B is heldagainst IOG support T, the head-flange of the inner ring r of said trough being of suflicient width toA admit of the bolting thereto of the rim-ange of the cover V2 for the vacuum-pan V, said cover having formed therein a manhole normally closed by a cover u2. Both cover V2 and body V of pan V are provided with suitable stuffing-box bearings y1: and fr' for the column C, so that the pan will revolve {inidtight thereon.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4., the outer wall r of trough T has au outwardly-inclined undercut peripheral fiauge r2 for purposes presently explained, and the cover V2 has a circular toothed track o4 for purposes presently explained, while the body V of the pan has a circulal` worm-gear lV meshing with a worm W on a driving-shaft S, carrying a conepulley P2 for varying the speed of rotation of the pan, suitable belt-shifting appliances being provided for the purpose, the pan being mounted on wheels w, traveling on a circular track T2.

The column C has ports c in line with the bottom of the pan V and ports c2 below the cover V2.

The cross-beam B, one end of which, as above stated, is supported by column C, has its opposite end supported bya suitable standard S. To the rear face of the beam B-that is to say, to that face of the beam facing the direction of rotation of the pan V-is secured a feed-hopper H, whose front wall is exten ded forwardly into the trough T close to the bottom B thereof, the extension h being concaveconvex or having its front face facing in a direction opposite to thedirection of rotation of the pan V, inclined upwardly, and ofgradnally-increasing cross-section to its lower end to form a somewhat broad under face above bottom B of trough T, Fig. 3, said extension performing the function of intercepter, intercepting the material on said bottom and causing it to bank upwardly thereon to bring it into reach of a screw conveyer D, which in practice isrotating in a casing open at bottom, by means of which the material is removed to a receiver R on the side of the pan and guided into the same by a directingchute r3, secured to the receiver and projecting into the undercut of thevrim-iiange r2 on the outer wall. r of trough T, hereinabove referred to.

The intercepter orscraper 7i need, of course, not form an extension of the front wall of the hopper Il, as it may form a separate part and be secured thereto.

The shaft CZ' of conveyer D is extended beyond its bearing over the cover V2 of vacuumpan V and carries a bevel-pinion c5 in gear with the circular toothed rack r on said cover V2, hereinbefore referred to, and wherebysaid conveyer is rotated.

To the rear wall of the feed-hopper II, at the delivery end thereof, is pivoted a feedregulating gate G, the spindle r/ whereof carries a hand-lever L, adjustable along a seci tor Z lfor the purpose of regulating the feed of the material to the trough T in a well-known manner.

The receiver R, which has a bottom of concavo-convex form in cross-section, may be constructed in the form of a trough of suitable length and provided with a dischargepipe controlled by a suitable gate or valve, and in said receiver is mounted a stirrershaft S2, having stirrer-blades b2 when the apparatnsis employed in the manufacture of white sugar, for instance, so that after the masse-cuite has been freed from syrup it may be mixed with purging or clearing liquor and sent to the centrifugal. If, however, the apparatus is used for the mere extraction of m0- lasses from crude sugar or of another motherliquor from other substances which are not to be immediately mixed with a liquid or with another substance, a screw conveyer may be substituted for the stirrer-shaft and the receiver left open at one end for the discharge .of the material, as will be readily understood.

Before describing the operation of the apparatus it may be stated that the branch p of pipe P has its discharge either sealed by a liquid, as that extracted or separated from a substance, or said pipe extends fluid-tight into a closed vessel, so that the vacuum in pan V may be established and' maintained, as presently explained, that said pipe P also serves as a purge-pipe, that the pipe P is connected to a vacuum-pump or other suitable air-exhaustingapparatus,and that the branch p' of said pipe P is connected to a source of supply of steam, preferably of low pressure or saturated.

For the purpose of preparing the apparatus for continuous operation it is of course necessary to prime the same, if I may so express myself, during which operation the stopcock s in exhaust-pipe P is closed, stop-cock s in branch p of pipe P being open, while stop-cock s2 in said pipe P and stop-cock s3 in brauch 22' of pipe P are closed during the operation of the apparatus and are opened v only when the apparatus is being cleansed. This being premised, the feed-gate G of feedhopper Il being properly adjusted and the said hopper supplied with material-say, for instance, masse-cuite as it comes from the vacuum-pan-the apparatus is rotated at such a rate as to supply the bottom I3 of trough T with a layer of masse-cuite of the desired or required thickness until the pan has made a complete rotation, or substantially so-that is, until the beginning of the layer reaches the intercepter 71.. The feed of material is now stopped, the stop-cock s in pipe P opened, and the air exhausted from thepan V. Thisiscontinued untilthe motherliquor is extracted from the sugar-crystals. The pan may now be said to be primed and is again put in motion, the feed-gate being also opened again, and as the pan rotates the layer of free from mother sugar-crystals free or substantially -liquor is taken up by the lOO IOC

IIO

to the action ofthe vacuum, so that the operation of the apparatus is a continuous one, as Will be readily understood. `In view of the fact that the layer of material on bottom oftrough T is re-formed as fast as the material is removed therefrom, and inasmuch as the material is delivered to the trough along the rear face and immediately in rear of the intertepter 71 the bottom-of trough T is during the operation of the apparatus always covered with material, so that the vacuum in the pan V is at no time relieved to adegree belonT that which is necessary to extract the liquor.

I have hereinbefore stated that the described apparatus is 'of particular advantage in sugar-factories, Vas by its use I am enabled to dispense with the llarge number of centrifugals, also with rcdissolving and reboiling of the sugar.

For some years lpast manufacturers of sugar have resorted to the return process-that is to say, they begin with the concentration of the syrup and end with the Syrups from the centrifugals more'or less rich in sugar, ac-

cording as the manufacturer separates these more or less rich syrups. Itis, however, admitted that all attempts at separation or grading of these'syrups in the centrifugal have proven failures. The excess of syrupsnot returned into the masse-cuite are returned into the boilers and concentrated according to special processes, and the resulting massecuite is then transferred to coolers and after a considerable period of time finally treated in the centrifugal. The resultant sugar is, for the purpose of obtaining a first-class final product, redissolved, reboiled, and Worked over again in the centrifugal, the resulting molasses being more or less rich in sugar, and its composition shows clearly the imperfection of this process, and if the factory produces white sugar principally a large quantity of masse-cuite is obtained because of the return into the cycle of' operations of the syrups resulting from this redissolving of the masse-cuite and from the syrups from the centrifugals. This repeated concentration has a deleterious action on the sugar, which is more or less dissolved and of inferior quality. It does not keep well in storage, While the crystals are not hard. All these difficulties are avoided by the use'of apparatus such as hereinabove described, and the manufacture of sugar becomes more rational, the reconcentrations being avoided, and the operations yield either white sugar or a very rich raw'sugar and a molasses the organic and saline coefficients of which are very loW. In

the latter case the trough T -contains a screvvk conveyer for discharging the raw sugar from the open end of the trough, While inthe case of White sugar said trough T is closed at both ends and provided with a stirrer-shaft, so that the masse-cuite can therein be mixed .with clairce discharged through branch T2 and then sent to the centrifugal.

When it becomes necessary to cleanse the vacuum-pan, the bottom B of the trough T is covered with an impermeable sheet, the pan is cut 0E from the e'Xhauster, the stopcock s in branch p of pipe P closed, and the stop-cock s2 in said pipe opened and 10W-pressure or saturated steam admitted through branch pipe p of pipe P', the products of condensation of the steam, together with the sugar dissolved thereby, being discharged through pipe P into a suitable receiver and used in the manufacture of sugar.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Apparatus such as described, comprising a vacuum-pan having a channel open to said pan and to the atmosphere throughout its length, a foraminous partition in said channel to form a trough and means for educting liquid from the pan; in combination Vwith a stationary feed device for feeding material to the trough and means for moving'the pan progressively along said feed device, for the purpose set forth. I'

2. Apparatus such as described, comprising a vacuum-pan having a circular channel open to the pan and to the atmosphere throughout its length, a foraminous 'partition in said channel to form a trough and means for educting liquid from the pan; in combination with a stationary feed-hopper above the aforesaid IOO trough and means for rotating the pan, for

a vacuum-pan having a channel open to the atmosphere and to the pan throughout its length, a foraminous partition in said vchannel to forma trough, means for educting liquid from the pan and means for rotating the IIC latter.; in combination with a stationary intercepter arranged to remove material from the trough and means for taking up and conveying away said material, substantially as set forth.

5. Apparatus such as described, comprising a vacuumpan having a circular channel open to the pan and to the atmosphere throughout its length, a foraminous partition in said channel to form a trough, means for educting liquid from the pan and means for rotating the latter; in combination with a receiver, appliances automatically removing material from the trough into the receiver as the pan rotates, and means for simultaneously feeding fresh material to the trough at or substantially at the point of removal, for the purpose set forth.

6. Apparatus such as described,comprising a vacuum-pan having a circular channel open to the pan and to the atmosphere throughout its length,a foraminous partition in said channel to form a trough, means for educting liquid from the pan and means for rotating the latter; in combination with a stationary intercepter constructed to intercept the material in the trough and direct it upwardly out of the same, a receiver, and a conveyer arranged to take the material banked up by the intercepter and convey it to said receiver, for the purpose set forth.

7. Apparatus such as described,comprising a Vacuuln-pan having a circular channel open to the pan and to the atmosphere throughout its length,a foraminous partition in said channel to form a trough, means for educting liquid from the pan and means for rotating the latter; in combination with a stationary intercepter constructed to intercept the material in the trough and direct it upwardly out of the same, a receiver provided with stirring appliances, and a conveyer arranged to take the material banked up by the intercepter and convey it to said receiver, for the purpose set forth.

8. Apparatus such as described,comprising a stationary hollow column, a vacuum-pan mounted to revolve fluid-tight thereon, ports in said column near the bottom and top of the pan, a drain-pipe connected to the lower end of the column, an exhaust-pipe connected to the upper end of said column, said pan having a circular channel open to the pan and to the atmosphere throughout its length, a foraminous partition in said channel to form a trough and means for rotating the pan; in combination with appliances for simultaneously removing material from and feeding material to said trough as the pan rotates and so as not to relieve or materially relieve the vacuum therein, for the purpose set forth.

9. In apparatus such as described,the combination with a rotatable vacuum-pan having a circular channel open to the pan and to the atmosphere throughout its length, a foraminous partition in said channel open to the pan and to the atmosphere throughout its length, means for educting liquid from the pan, and means for rotating the latter; in combination with a stationary feed-hopper arranged to discharge into said trough and means for regulating the feed of material to the hopper, for the purpose of set forth.

10. In apparatus such as described,the combination with a rotatable vacuum-pan having a circular channel open to the pan and to the atmosphere throughout its length, a foraminous partition in said channel open to the pan and to the atmosphere throughout its length, means for educting liquid from the pan and means for rotating the latter; in combination with a stationary feed-hopper arranged to discharge into said trough,means for regulating the feed of material to the trough, a scraper therein, in front of the hopper-outlet, arranged to remove material from said trough as the pan rotates, and means for conveying away the material so removed, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGES DESAULLES.

XVitnesses:

NICOLAS DEVILLo, JoANNIs FREYssINET. 

